crucial

cru·cial

C0773500 (kro͞o′shəl)adj.1. a. Extremely significant or important: "Infancy ... is now understood as a crucial building block of human personality" (Anne Roiphe).b. Vital to the resolution of a crisis or the determination of an outcome: a crucial moment in the political campaign. See Synonyms at decisive.2. Archaic Having the form of a cross; cross-shaped.

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[From New Latin (īnstantia) crucis, (experīmentum) crucis, crossroads (case), crossroads (experiment), from Latin crux, cruc-, cross. Sense 2, French, from Old French, from Latin crux.]

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cru′cial·ly adv.Word History: In a Latin work dating from 1620, the English philosopher and essayist Francis Bacon used the phrase instantia crucis, "crossroads instance," to refer to something in an experiment that proves one of two hypotheses and disproves the other. The word crucis in Bacon's phrase is the genitive form of the Latin word crux. Crux originally meant "cross" but had also developed the meaning "a guidepost that gives directions at a place where one road becomes two" and hence was suitable for Bacon's metaphor. Both Robert Boyle, often called the father of modern chemistry, and Isaac Newton used a similar Latin phrase, experimentum crucis, for an experiment that determines which of two hypotheses is valid. When English equivalents for these phrases were created in the 19th century, they became crucial instance and crucial experiment. Through the influence of these phrases, the adjective crucial, which before this time had meant simply "cross-shaped," acquired the sense "vital to the determination of an outcome."

crucial

(ˈkruːʃəl) adj1. involving a final or supremely important decision or event; decisive; critical2. informal very important3. slang very good[C18: from French, from Latin crux cross] ˈcrucially adv

cru•cial

(ˈkru ʃəl)

adj. 1. of vital or critical importance, esp. with regard to a decision or result: a crucial experiment. 2. Archaic. shaped like a cross; cruciform. [1700–10; < Latin cruci-, s. of crux cross + -al¹] cru`ci•al′i•ty (-ʃiˈæl ɪ ti, -ˈʃæl-) n. cru′cial•ly, adv.

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	crucial - of extreme importance; vital to the resolution of a crisis; "a crucial moment in his career"; "a crucial election"; "a crucial issue for women"importantcritical - being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency; "a critical shortage of food"; "a critical illness"; "an illness at the critical stage"decisive - determining or having the power to determine an outcome; "cast the decisive vote"; "two factors had a decisive influence"essential - basic and fundamental; "the essential feature"noncrucial - of little importance; not decisive
	2.	crucial - having crucial relevance; "crucial to the case"; "relevant testimony"material - directly relevant to a matter especially a law case; "his support made a material difference"; "evidence material to the issue at hand"; "facts likely to influence the judgment are called material facts"; "a material witness"
	3.	crucial - of the greatest importance; "the all-important subject of disarmament"; "crucial information"; "in chess cool nerves are of the essence"all important, all-important, of the essence, essentialimportant, of import - of great significance or value; "important people"; "the important questions of the day"

crucial

adjective1. (Informal) vital, important, pressing, essential, urgent, momentous, high-priority the most crucial election campaign in years2. critical, central, key, psychological, decisive, pivotal, now or never At the crucial moment, his nerve failed.

crucial

adjective1. So serious as to be at the point of crisis or necessary to resolve a crisis:acute, climacteric, critical, desperate, dire.2. Determining or having the power to determine an outcome:conclusive, deciding, decisive, determinative.

Translations

关键性的决定性的至关紧要的

crucial

(ˈkruːʃəl) adjective involving a big decision; of the greatest importance. He took the crucial step of asking her to marry him; The next game is crucial – if we lose it we lose the match. 決定性的，至關緊要的 决定性的，至关紧要的

crucial

→ 关键性的zhCN